Salience in the making of contemporary hand- thrown tableware: an analysis of ribbing

Abstract

This paper contributes to the debate on procedures of making with an analysis of the ribbing techniques used in contemporary pottery practices. The findings emerge from a practice-based doctoral study of functional tableware made on the potter’s wheel in contemporary British workshops. Ribbing is one of the operations performed by potters during a throwing session on the wheel. The analysis of the ribbing techniques and tools employed by the participants exemplifies the approach used in the wider study, and shows how the findings can help address a gap in current literature.

Handmade pottery in British post-industrial society is appreciated for physical qualities unattainable in industrial products, and often described through narratives about potters and their approaches to making (see Bloomfield, 2013; Walter, 2002; Wood, 1999). The study presents an account of contemporary British pottery practices which goes beyond a generic appreciation of handmade products, and locates the origin of key qualities and narratives associated with the ware in salient making operations. The complexity of pottery practices is revealed in the interconnectedness of key phases of production with aspects of cultural identity, knowledge transmission, philosophies of making and personal expression. ‘Manufacturing salience’ identifies the effect that making operations have on products, whereas ‘cultural salience’ locates the origin of key narratives within the making process.

This practice-based study is informed by reflection on pottery making and ethnographic fieldwork conducted in three well-established professional workshops: the Leach Pottery in Cornwall, Lisa Hammond’s Maze Hill Pottery in London and Ewenny Pottery in Wales.